Ok Nina, here's where we left off from your last post......
Starters are amazing little creatures. The one that I have is a bacteria that I bought in San Francisco (that sounds weird) and has evolved into what it is today. Depending on where you live and what wild yeast is around you will depend on the flavors of your starter.
In the pioneer days people kept a dried starter with them to make biscuits on their trip across the country. They would dry some on a piece of paper. I met a woman in Canada who said that she had starter that went back to the gold rush when her family went west.
There is a forum topic on sourdough, and, as you can see there is more to it than a bubbly glob of goop. I know that Jacob and Elliot are into starters too.
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Yes they are indeed great to have around! I got my San Fran culture from Ed Wood from Sourdough International (he had a wide variety of cultures from around the world available). I've only been doing sourdough for about 6 months so I've done a lot of research and I have a proofer I made from an ice chest and a light bulb for proofing my culture and dough to control the proofing temp.
I've REALLY been struggling to get the balance right between sour, crust, and crumb. After about 6 months I finally have the crust and crumb where I want it but I'm still not sour enough. I've found that if I proofed at higher temps and longer times to develop the bacteria for sour flavor my dough is over proofed so the crust wouldn't nicely brown. But if I change the proofing time & temp to get a nice crust and crumb I don't get the sourness I want (I like really strong sour flavor).
Honestly I haven't used "Oscar" in a few weeks since I've been busy with other culinary projects, but I think I'll feed him and get him going for a batch in the next couple of days. :-) When it's done I'd like to post my full method and results to get some feedback in hopes that someone with more experience can help me jump this last hurdle!